Liar
by FoxKid1302
Summary: Written for April's Fool. I should have uploaded it sooner. Warning: Strong language. Slight violence.


Raph stretched to his full height as he trotted to the kitchen. He didn't remember if he'd ever slept this good before. Something in his gut told Raph that he's going to have one good day up ahead. His bright spirit bumped into a tense atmosphere when he saw Leo and Don sitting at the breakfast table, eye snapped onto him the moment he walked pass the entrance.

"Wassup, bros?" Raph casually asked, ignoring the glare throwing his way.

"Morning, Raph. You seem to be in a good mood today." Don commented, as if doubting what's showing on his brother's face.

"What's wrong with ya two? Ya woke up on the wrong side of yer bed or sumthin'?"

"Don't you remember what day it is?" Leo arched his brow.

"It's April 1st, right?" Raph slowly answered, counting the day in his head to make sure he got it right, then it hit him like a train wreck "Oh shell! Where's that twerp?"

"If by that 'twerp' you mean me, then I'm right here."

Raph spun on his heel so fast he almost dug a hole on the floor. There he was still rubbing his hazy eyes, mouth stretched open for a big yawn. When Mikey removed his hands from his eyes, the scene before him where his brother looked at him as if he's a time bomb nearly made him burst out laughing.

"What's up with you guys? First thing in the morning and you're already this tense?"

"Ya should know, doofus." Raph pointed a finger at him, backing away till his shell hit the table "I ain't gonna fall for any of yer prank today."

"Prank? What prank?" Mikey tilted his head in total amusement.

"You can drop the act, little brother." Leo scooped a spoonful of cereal, eyes never left the youngest "We're not planning on getting you back for all the pranks you pulled, but today we're not going to fall for any of it. Take this as special training if you like."

"I don't want to doubt you, MIkey, but I too have been on the receiving end of your pranks, so I'll give you a head up that we'll be extra careful today." Don quipped, looking at him with slight guilt in his eye. Don would never want to do this, but Mikey guessed sooner or later he'd push even the genius's button.

"Pffft, guys, Dr. Prankeinstein's on duty, like, everyday." Mikey snorted, walking toward the table as if nothing happened. Pulling a chair to sit next to Don, he noticed how the genius scooted away from him. Just by a millimeter, but he did scoot away. "April's fool or not, you guys should just keep calm and watch your back."

"That's the problem, bozo." Raph slammed himself down the chair in front of Mikey. "We took everything ya throw at us without so much of a payback. We want a break. No fooling around."

"Okay, okay. Just chill, would you?" Mikey raised both his hand in defense with a smirk "That totally ruin today's spirit, FYI. I'll just hang around with my games, that's all... Not promising anything, though."

With that, he grabbed the cereal box and bolted.

"Ugh! If I know who invented this day I'm gonna toss him ta the moon." Raph groaned, standing up to look for another box.

"We shouldn't be like this." Don crossed his arms "It's not any different from the rest of the year when Mikey's bored and want to use us to entertain himself."

"I know." Leo sighed in exasperate. "It's just... he may not stop just there. Today's the special occasion that he can take things a little too far. He needs to learn that we're not his toys."

"How about we tie him up and lock him in his room?" Raph half-jokingly suggested.

"And get an earful from master Splinter later? No thanks." Leo shook his head. "There're three of us and one of him. How hard can it be to keep an eye on one turtle?"

:::

And truly, it wasn't. Mikey spent the entire morning after practice on the sofa, eye gluing to his favorite video game. Raph planned to fix his bike, but instead worked with his punching bag in the dojo, with the door open so he could have a clear view of the sea-green turtle. Don thought of locking himself in his lab, the safest place in the lair even Mikey didn't dare to set foot in, but he had to leave once in a while, and the prank could be waiting for him around any corner, so Don brought the broken toaster with him out to the living area, tinkering with it right behind the sofa. If there was so much of a shift, he'd sense it right away. Leo also stuck around with a newspaper, casually reading. He could always join Mikey in his game, but thought better. His baby brother had a way to pull anyone playing with him in, so that that person didn't pay attention to anything else, and that went even for the eldest. On this day, that could be fatal.

"It's nice to have you guys hanging around with me like this, right Leo?" Mikey asked while waiting for his game to load the next level.

A genuine smile was all he got for a reply. As calm as this could be, none of them could get rid of the annoyed feeling that a water balloon might hit the back of their heads somewhere, or a bag of feather blasted to their faces. Worse yet, they had to look up to any door before pushing in. If Mikey's up for it, a mountain of god-know-what would be dumped on them with no way of avoiding.

They could just take it and get it over with, maybe had an epic chase and a good laugh later. But that would be playing right into Mikey's hand and further spoiling him. At one point Leo and Don seriously consider Raph's proposal, but the red clad turtle wasn't the only stubborn member of this family. Four could play at this game, if Mikey's a genius with his wit, Don could spot a slightest change in the lair, Leo wasn't positioned as leader for nothing, and there's virtually nothing Mikey could bury Raph under without him getting back up. So yeah, they should have nothing to worry about. However, Mikey didn't succeed with his pranks in the past due to luck. His unpredictability was what they feared most.

Afternoon, Mikey took a soundly nap in his room, allowing them a much needed short time to rest as well. It didn't last long though, when he came out again with comic books stacked way over his head, it's like morning all over again.

"Okay, guys. Time for patrol. Crimes don't take a break on April's fool." Leo sheathed his katana. "Mikey, as much as you _may_ have done whatever you like in the lair, I must warn you that there will be no pranking topside. Got it?"

"Crystal clear, dude." Mikey saluted him, but still didn't wipe the grin off his face.

"Feh, as if I'm gonna buy it." Raph snorted, then signaled two fingers from his eyes toward his baby brother. If the message "I'm watching you" was ever received, Mikey didn't show any sign of it.

Oddly enough, nothing happened. The orange clad turtle obediently followed the team, jumping over rooftops that were all too familiar with them. Their eyes were peeled for anything abnormal, from the city below as well as their brother. Maybe they'd become a little too paranoid with this. Even Mikey knew when to stop, should they stop as well?

On the third round with no crime activity in sight, Leo decided to call it. The day had gone on long enough. If this was Mikey's idea of a prank, to keep them on edge for an entire day for nothing, then he totally did it...

"Guys! Over there!" Mikey yelled as they jumped over an alley.

... or not.

"Mikey, Leo said no prank..." Don began, but Mikey cut him off, jumping down a fire escape down below that out of their view.

"No, I'm not joking. There's a bunch of Purple Dragons breaking in a store in that alley. You gotta believe me!"

"Fat chance, goofball. I ain't falling for any of whatever plan ya had today, and I'm sure as hell ain't gonna fall for one now." Raph stubbornly stood his ground, refusing to take even a glance over the roof.

No answer. Mikey's already out of sight. From where Leo and Don were, none of them could see down below to verify if what the youngest said was true either. Suddenly, there was scream and the sound of gunfire.

"Mikey..." Leo gasped. He was about to walked to the edge when Raph grabbed him.

"Don't fall for it, Fearless. Knowing him, he might set up all that beforehand. Stick yer head down and ya might get hit with a paint ball."

"Don't be ridiculous, Raph. Mikey gave his word that he would not do anything up here."

"On a different day, I may believe him. But it's today that he can go ta the extreme. Ya can't give in that easily."

Another gunfire. Leo immediately yanked himself free.

"If it's all a prank, then I'll punish him later. But if not, we're gonna regret the rest of our lives. I'm going, with or without you."

And he jumped down the fire escape.

Don watched as Raph stomped away, but he hadn't walked two step when noise of metal screeching against each other reached their ears. No yell calling their names, but more of that dreadful sound came up from below.

"Raph, this is getting a little too far..."

"Ya telling me. Leo might as well got whacked upside the head down there by that bump. Ya can go down there and join him if ya want, but I'll stay here and give him some knuckle sandwiches when he get back up."

Don didn't bother peeking down to check or looking back to see if Raph follow. He jumped.

Left alone on the rooftop, Raph now felt a slight shiver down his spine. If this was some grandios, elaborate prank, then Mikey had exceed every record he himself had set so far, and that guaranteed a proper beat down from the hothead when it's over. Raph still couldn't believe Leo and Don actually jumped down before checking if a trap from that prankster was waiting for them down there. But then... why did it get so silent all of a sudden? What if Mikey's telling the truth, just this one time? They could be fighting for real down there for all Raph knew, and he's up there just because of a stupid tradition and his stubbornness. Even so, it's just a bunch of Dragons, surely the three of them could take care of it... right?

Raph was about to approach the edge when a three fingered hand reached up, hoisting Mikey, followed by Leo and Don. Raph stopped dead in his track the moment he saw blood and wound on their bodies. Mikey sheepishly smiled, hoping to alleviate the shock in his red clad brother:

"You were right staying up here, Raph. Guess the joke's on me. Those were some nasty PDs."

Raph slowly made his way toward his baby brother, taking in all the blood oozing out from his wounds. There was also bruises, and hell, even a BULLET HOLE. What the fuck happened down there?

"Mikey, I... I'm so sorry..."

"It's okay, bro. It's only a matter of time before something like this happen anyway. Remind me not to take a joke too far."

Raph stood before his baby brother now, one hand hovered the bullet hole on sea green arm. If only he wasn't so stubborn... if only he listened...

"Don't feel bad, Raph. You couldn't help it. You were the target of my prank too many times. Just like... just like how you are right now."

Huh?

"BWA HA HA HA HA! You should have seen your face right now, dude." Mikey stepped backward, doubled himself over due to the laugh. "I can't believe I finally did it. I was afraid I can't trick you today, but guess what? I DID!"

Still dumbfounded, as if his ears were temporary deaf, Raph goofily pointed at the wound.

"Oh, this? Dude, you insult my make-up skill, bro. Looky here."

With a simple wipe, the bullet hole disappeared as if it didn't exist in the first place.

"I had to record all those sound to make it just a tinsy bit convincing. Took me quite some times, but totally worth it... Raph?"

Mikey was too absorb in his own rambling, he didn't notice the red clad turtle looming over him, hands balling into fists. His whole body trembled with suppressed anger.

"O~okay, guess I went a little overboard with this one. Raph, before you do anything, can I just say..."

A light knock up the head cut Mikey off from the rest of his sentence. For a moment Raph looked like he's about to erupt, but what he did froze them all.

"Nice one, nimrod. Ya got me."

Now it's Raph's turn to double over in a fit of laughter. He must have looked so ridiculous in front of his brothers now, but he didn't care.

"Damn, and we tried so hard not ta fall for yer trick. Ya even got Leo and Don ta join ya." Raph wiped a tear from his eye, gesturing toward Fearless and brainiac both covered in wound "Yer something else, ya know that?"

Turning away to jump to the next rooftop, he yelled "Happy fucking April's Fool!"

Unbeknownst to the red clad turtle, the rest of his brothers let out a deep sigh in relief. Don was the first to move, limping toward Mikey, who's now clutching his arm.

"You knew he was going to react this way... right?"

"Actually... I didn't." Mikey hissed, peeling the fake skin off to reveal the hole, still oozing out dark, infected blood.

_Ten minute earlier_

_Mikey jumped down to see only one of the Purple Dragon standing guard outside the disabled door. He looked up one second too late as sea green feet collided with his face, knocking him out cold. Mikey swung his nunchucks to the raised knife in the corner of his eye. The loud crack and the agonizing scream followed after was enough to confirm that the owner of that knife and hand could no longer use them. What Mikey didn't see was the gun behind him as he lunged for his next target. The bullet piercing through his flesh was enough to make him scream, but he bit back for unknown reason even for him. Quickly spin around to dodge, Mikey swept up dirt from the ground toward the PD with the gun. Blinded, he furiously rubbed his eye and fire another shot to nowhere, giving the turtle enough time to kick right in his nut sacks. Mikey didn't bother with him anymore, since another one with a metal pipe came out and was about to smash his head like a water melon, if it wasn't for Leo and his precision. The screeching noise when Leo blocked the pipe drowned every other sound. As Mikey leaped over his brother to give that PD a knee in the face, he grabbed Leo by the head, covering his mouth._

_"Don't!" was all Leo heard from MIkey, with blazing eye before his youngest brother swung his chucks again toward another PD, rendering him speechless. He didn't have time to retaliate, since two more charged at him. Blocking their spike and club, Leo rolled along with them and gave each a kick in the stomach as his shell hit the ground. That's when Don joined the fray to help them taking care of the remaining PDs, but not before they got themselves some wounds to decorate their bodies with. Leo was about to shout when Mikey put a hand in front of him._

_"I know what you want to say, and I'll listen to it. But not right now. We have to come back up before Raph see this. Will you play along with me for a little longer? Please."_

_"That is out of the question. Look at you! You barely..."_

_"Don't give me that crap, Leo. If you listened to me in the first place we wouldn't end up like this. Now play along, or I promise I won't spare you a guilt trip for the rest of the week."_

_Without waiting, Mikey jumped back up the fire escape..._

"OW! What was that for?"

"Ya had ta ask?" Raph retorted after smacking his brother up the head, one hand still tightening the knot on the stitch. Mikey was shocked enough to see his hothead brother waiting for him at the entrance to the lair with the medic kit in hand, having him removing the bullet and stitching him up totally blew his mind.

"Ya got a lot a nerves ta fool me with that one. After knocking ya, I looked at my hand and what did I see there? Blood! Fucking blood! And ya still laughed like a nutball."

"If I didn't do that you might go on a guilt trip just like Leo, if not even worse, since you're the only one still think I was joking back there."

"Yeah, thanks for the sweet reminder." Raph gritted his teeth.

The rest of the bandaging happened in silence, with Raph completely avoided Mikey's eyes. No surprise there. That's the only way for Raph to make up for his stubbornness, even if it meant taking over to do a clumsy work that Don could perform much better. Ouch! Mikey had to have Don look at it later. But right now, he's glad enough to see Raph didn't lash out at himself for abandoning his brothers.

"I'm sorry."

"What?"

"For lying to you, pranking you. Making you stop believing in me. All that."

Raph looked up to meet his brother's sky-blue eyes. There was regret, and also sadness that he lost his brother's trust. Raph put the bandage away and pulled his baby brother to a hug, squeezing him a little too tight for comfort.

"That's what ya get for constantly driving us crazy. But never, EVER, think that we don't trust ya. It's my fault for ignoring ya back there. It won't happen again, I promise."

"... Thanks. I've learned my lesson too. I'll think twice before pranking you from now on... maybe."

"That's good enough for me, knucklehead."


End file.
